Meals 130-136

05/09 for tonight's meatless meal i wanted to try something i had seen a few times on pinterest. sweet potato nachos. i love sweet potatoes. i love nachos. but i never though of combining the two. i was most pleased with the result! the hardest part was making the sweet potato chips. even thinly sliced on the mandolin, they took a loooooooong time in the oven at a low temperature to get crisp. worth the wait though. before baking i had tossed them with olive oil and a few spices like cumin, chili powder, garlic and oregano to add a nice flavor. once they had cooled a little i sampled one. two. three. i had to stop myself from eating all the chips as they were! i laid them on a plate as a base for the copious toppings i had. black beans. corn. cheddar. scallions. cilantro. salsa. sour cream. and avocado. oh how i do love me the avocado. all together it made for a very filling meal. and now that i know how to make the chips? i foresee them appearing as the side dish to many future meals. sorry for the blurry picture!!!

05/10 during my travels in italy, i saw the combination of sausage and kale rather frequently. often in soups. sometimes over pasta. tonight i decided to try the combination on spaghetti squash. a spicy italian sausage pairs rather nicely with the bitter green of kale. it balances the flavors out quite nicely! i added a few mushrooms and tomatoes that i needed to use up, and tossed it all with roasted spaghetti squash. despite the sausage as a component, this meal was actually relatively light. and much heavier on the veggies than the meat. so no guilt!!

05/11 it's may. the second week of may. and we are still in the middle of cold, rainy, grey weather. it is most disheartening! given the dreary weather i opted for comfort food tonight. i can't even remember when or where i saw this recipe for crock pot "swiss steak". but i've had it for years and never tried it. there are a million recipes for swiss steak. all of which involve slow cooking with a great deal of moisture and a typically tough cut of meat like flat iron steak. most use tomatoes, but this one uses onions and beef broth. the addition of paprika, mushrooms and sour cream to this dish made it almost like a combination of beef stroganoff and hungarian goulash. and those are both wonderful comfort food dishes! so i figure tonight was a good night to try it. and on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. the flat iron steak i used came out SUPER tender and delicious. the sauce was a little on the heavy side, but made for a nice gravy on the mashed potatoes.

05/12 there have been so many recipes i've made that were variations of stuffed chicken breast. tonight i wanted to use a different base. stuffed tilapia! a filet of tilapia stuffed with chopped broccoli, a beaten egg, a little parmesan, a bit of cream cheese, some spices and a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs. baked just until the tilapia became transparent. it was actually a really nice alternative to the chicken i've been using. i love the versatility and light texture of tilapia. for a side i made a strawberry basil salad. since we are in strawberry season, i want to take advantage! a little balsamic drizzle and a few cucumbers makes this salad a light and rather refreshing side dish.

05/13 tonight's meal was sort of a "deconstructed sushi". i got the idea from a recipe on skinny taste for "spicy shrimp stacks". but rather than try for the neat pretty stack? i just went for a free style bowl presentation. a base of brown rice drizzled with soy sauce. a layer of fresh avocado. shrimp that was tossed with a little mayo and sriracha. and a topping of scallions and sesame seeds. all together the flavors and textures were that of some of the best "americanized" sushi rolls i've had! next time, i want to try this with a sashimi-grade tuna......

http://www.skinnytaste.com/spicy-california-shrimp-stack/

05/14 tonight was one of my personal favorite meals. seared scallops served on a bed of parmesan risotto with a side of asparagus. i love everything about this meal! it all hinges on having good quality sea scallops. and quickly searing them quickly in a HOT skillet with a little bit of butter and white wine. the natural sweetness of the scallops comes through and the texture is one that melts in your mouth. and you can never go wrong with a good risotto. i start with a base of garlic, onion and shallot. then the arborio rice. a little white wine. and chicken broth. finish it with some parmesan and a little parsley. and this is definitely the season for fresh asparagus! quickly roasted to keep that little bit of crunch in the stalks. and the gorgeous green color. such a very wonderful meal!!!

05/15 we have a small farmer's market here in town that sets up every thursday morning. only a handful of vendors set up. but there is one particular vendor that i am obsessed with, and was very happy to see had returned to set up this year. "the lambs quarter". a farmer/butcher from calvert county that comes here to sell his wares. and he makes the most AMAZING sausages. chorizo. cheddar brats. spicy italian. everything i've bought from him is amazing. tonight i took the spicy italian sausage i had just purchased and sautéed it in a skillet with some sliced sweet onion and red peppers. amazing flavors! so simple. but when the ingredients are this good? you really don't need much! if you should ever find yourself in calvert county, i highly recommend you pay the farm a visit......

http://thelambsquarter.com